


The Oregon Trail

by JaredKinkman



Category: Dear Evan Hansen - Pasek & Paul/Levenson
Genre: But with the Murphy family, Other, fanfictoin based off history, the Oregon Trail, yeet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-02
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-03-25 22:52:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 1,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13844703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaredKinkman/pseuds/JaredKinkman
Summary: For school, I had to write the experiences of a person I made up, cause we were learning about the Oregon Trail and all that jazz. I just took the Murphy family on the trail and this is literally my school project that I’m copy and pasting onto here.





	1. Chapter 1

May 28st, 1852

I’m Larry Murphy and at the ripe old age of 32, I’m taking my 31 year old wife Cynthia, my 12 year old son Connor, and my daughter Zoella who’s ten years of age, to Oregon to take advantage of this amazing opportunity.  
You see, I’m a lumberjack in missouri and we’ve just heard of the gold found in Oregon. We were saving up to go anyway, since we had all heard about how much of paradise it is, we were waiting until the war would end before we went, and after it did, we just kept waiting for the right moment. My son has been a bit upset (and Zoe’s just scared to leave everything behind) about this, but he’s right. If we went earlier we could have been one of the first to find gold. So now, we’re headed over to get our share of it, and if everything’s gone by the time we get there, I’ve heard Oregon has some of the thickest forests e’re seen and that’s why we were originally going to go.  
Also, my brute strength from chopping trees could come in useful. Actually so could Connor’s talent, as he’s quite the woodcarver and we could trade his works for supplies or if something broke in our wagon, he could make a replacement. Since honesty is a virtue, I’ll be honest now. Cynthia is not the best cook. I mean it’s edible, but at this point, I don’t think my kids know what good food tastes like, I just hope Zoe turns out better than her mother. Speaking of Zoe, she’s beautiful with the fiddle, she found it at my parents’ house and my father let her have it, he gave her a few lessons to help her off her feet and she was up and running, I think she even writes her own songs now, so she could play for those that we come across.


	2. Money

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> $$  
>  _/

May 30th, 1852 

Yesterday, my family went to town to purchase what we need for our trip, and our hesitance to leave did have a silver lining; We saved up a large sum of money.   
The original plan was to get $2,000 in about 3 years, we’ve stuck to that plan for 5 years, and now we’ve come up with $3,400.  
We bought a $300 wagon, 4 oxen to pull it. We got 3 extra wagon wheels, 3 extra wagon tongues, and 3 extra wagon axles in case any break, because even though Connor may be a decent carver, I’d prefer not to make a kid responsible for how long we sit with a broken down wagon. I’ve brought 70 boxes of bullets (you can never have too many bullets) so that we can easily hunt and defend ourselves. We bought 15 changes of clothes since clothing isn’t too important, but it’s always really good to have some dry socks on hand, and some stuff to try and pile on top of ourselves if we end up in winter before we get there. We also bought 1500 pounds of food so that we don’t starve to death. That was going to be a joke, but honestly I don’t want to jinx anything. We’re also bringing Zoe’s fiddle, my axe as well as an extra that we got, a few hunting knives, a few pots and pans and a couple of stacks of wood that we can burn and trade. I believe that Cynthia is going to bring a few of her “herbs and spices” to cook with, and that Connor’s bringing his carving tools and some of his favorite pieces that he’s made. And last, but not least, we’re bring 3 bottles of whiskey for cooking, drinking, and medical uses. We still have about $1,500 left.


	3. Snecky Sneck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SNECK

June 14th, 1852

We got started on the trail a little over a week ago and it’s been tougher than we thought.

For one thing, Connor’s been a little difficult. About four days after we started this journey, he decided he needed some ‘alone time’ right after we ate dinner, and he disappeared. We found him freaking out above a pile of woodchips, the log he took and one of his favorite carving knives. Turns out he had the intention of doing some carving alone but the boy got himself lost, not just that, but a darn snake had bit him right in the arm. He told us about the snake but refused to admit that he got lost. That night, I scolded him, poured some whiskey on his arm and we all prayed that the snake wasn’t of a venomous sort, and god heard us, because the next day (and e’re since so far) he was as fit as Zoe’s fiddle.


	4. Rivers and Angst

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yeet

July 3rd, 1852

It’s been exactly a month since we’ve headed out, and everything is worn out already. Our clothes reek and have started to fray, the knives cut a bit duller, the food’s flavor has started fading even though I’ve gone hunting twice already, the oxen look tired and even a little bit thinner, we are tired. We are frayed, duller, thinner. It really feels like we are the ones fading.  
Neither of the kids have been handling it well. Connor’s been closed off. I mean he used to be such a happy kid, but when he started growing up, he started to become distant, and it just got so much worse when we started this whole Oregon thing, and he’s not just being cold. He’s going to both extremes. He’s started exploding at everyone, I think he’s been trying to hold back from yelling at Zoe but I’m scared he’s hurt her the most. I’ve also had to lecture him on why he can’t just keep carving up all our firewood. I don’t think he understands so I threw one of his unfinished works in the fore yesterday to prove a point.   
Speaking of Zoe, she’s been distant too. She’s been playing her fiddle more and more, now it’s almost always in the background and without it, the air feels unnaturally empty. The songs seem more sad and angry nowadays, they used to be cheery and heavy with love. But in no way are the melodies light now, they’re now soaked with darker emotions instead.  
Cynthia and I worry about them. She worries too much, I hope time will fly by faster now that we’ve been going for a bit, and that soon, this’ll all be a memory filled with stories to tell. Like how one of our axles broke. We had three extras but that didn’t make replacing the darn thing fun.  
We also crossed a river, I can’t quite remember the name of it, but I think that might be the happiest memory yet, as we bought a ferry with some of our leftover money. It was a terrifying and exciting experience. Going over the river felt strange, like the ground wasn’t quite solid. And we all knew that we would probably be fine, but that didn’t keep us from fearing the worst.


	5. Zoe gots sik moovs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I have crippling depression (and paranoia).
> 
> Relatable vines,
> 
> amIright?

September 28th, 1852

It’s been over 3 months since we headed out. And it’s felt like death himself was chasing us, and right on our behinds. Poor Zoe got typhoid fever in the middle of August, at first we thought she was tired and hot because of the muggy heat but we soon found out that she was sure close to dying. The music in the air was gone, leaving it feeling empty and heartbroken. Zoe just slept, when she was awake, she would barely eat.   
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Connor so scared. He was always either by her side or tucked away carving, I think I heard him crying a couple of times, but I’m not sure. We all prayed for hear, and god has been walking with us, and let her live.  
Zoe got better about two weeks ago, and Cynthia and I drank half a bottle of whiskey in celebration. However, Connor sulked a bit when he saw us do that. I offered him some, but he kinda just looked away and ignored me.  
One of our oxen got sick and died a little bit after that which was strange and really made me think more deeply about it than I should’ve. Zoe was sad about it. I mean we were all a bit upset and sad about it, but Zoe was passionate about the animal, she even wrote a song about him. And named him James which, to be honest, was a bit humorous. A few days later, I found her playing with a small wooden ox toy. I wonder where she got that from.  
We’re currently resting at Fort Hall, we already passed Fort Lamerie, but we weren’t there for too long. I think we’re going to stay one more day (we stayed when we got here late last night) before we head out.   
I bought a necklace for Cynthia, she deserves it, this has been a bad experience for her. She was thrilled with it, I got a small lecture on how I shouldn’t go spending money on her while we’ll probably need it later, but I could tell that she was happy. And I’m happy that she’s happy. I also got a new carving knife for Connor and a deer skin coat for Zoe, she might not need it right now, but she will soon, in fact I got one that’s a little big for her so that she’ll grow into it. We also got some more food and bullets, even though I’ve been hunting as we go, I want to be prepared in case something.


	6. Sad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hek

October 14th, 1852

Cynthia, Connor and Zoe have all been a little worse for wear and a little pale, otherwise they’re all relatively healthy. But there’s a reason they’re somber and worried.  
To whoever may read this. I don’t think I’m going to survive the night.   
Let me backtrack a little bit. Last month, one of our oxen was getting restless and trampled me a little bit. That broke my arm. I had to teach Connor how to all the mandatory tasks that I couldn’t do, like yolking and driving the oxen. I’m honestly glad that I did, because not much long after, I got dysentery. Funny enough, at first I thought it was just Cynthia’s cooking. It was some fruit and vegetable mash of some sort with ‘slightly’ charred meat. Connor took one bite before excusing himself, while Zoe just pushed her food around on her plate. Cynthia gave me a hurt smile and just shrugged, which made me determined to eat the whole plate. I did my best not to gag and followed each bite with quite a fair amount of water. Later that night, my intestines felt like they were on fire (still do). I think I woke up everyone with my groans that night. It’s just been getting worse and worse, and it’s a painful experience to write but I want to say goodbye, I’m getting tired.

Goodnight.


	7. I forgot this had more chapters TBH

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s short

September 5th, 1852

We made it. We’re here Dad. Connor kinda took control of the wagon and got us here. Mom and me helped though. Oregon’s so green, and the water is crystal clear. I wrote a song about you. Connor’s thirteen now.   
We started building a house with the help of a guy we met on our way into town. His name is Paul but we just call him Mr.Heere. He’s got a kid named Jeremy about Connor’s age, and his wife died on the trip over. His name is kinda funny, but he’s really nice. He’s not as nice as you though, I wish you were here.

-Your daughter, Zoe Murphy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why not tag yourself? I’m ‘Oregon Green’. That feels like the name of a famous person, but whatever. I know I’ve been inactive but a family member died and a fuck ton of drama happened. So I guess I’m back?


End file.
